Geo-location app connects users to air quality data

Geme.io has expanded its smart city offering to provide timely and accurate data via an EU feed that will be customised for display on the app’s virtual map.

The app will help indviduals avoid areas where air pollution is prevalent

The geo-location app Geme.io, which connects people to a range of information in their current vicinity, has expanded its smart city offering with air quality information.

Geme.io has been provided access to the European Union’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), a dataset that provides consistent and quality-controlled open information related to air pollution and health, solar energy, greenhouse gases and climate forcing, anywhere in the world.

Analyses and forecasts

Offering daily global and regional air quality analyses and forecasts, CAMS will feed Geme.io with timely and accurate data to keep its users updated and display the information in a customised manner on the app’s virtual map.

The Geme.io team is also working with several consortia, including universities as well as personal, portable air quality sensor manufacturers, to aggregate air pollution data from a variety of sources and display them in real-time at a street-by-street level (combined with other relevant city information such as city planned traffic congestion) on the app.

To understand the interest surrounding the reduction of air pollution in a given city, Geme.io conducted a survey among mums with toddlers in approximately 1,300 kindergartens across London, five large cities in the US, and two capital cities in the Nordics.

“Our mission is to allow users to take the necessary, preventive actions to avoid air pollution by electing alternative street routes or parks”

Results demonstrated that 94 per cent of this segment is very concerned about air pollution in their cities, are not aware if their kindergarten lies in a general polluted area (89 per cent), and 78 per cent would be willing to change their means of transportation if they knew about traffic congestion ahead of time.

“Our mission is to allow users to take the necessary, preventive actions to avoid air pollution by electing alternative street routes or not going to a park for example, if dust (particulate matter) is overly prevalent,” said Geme.io co-founder, Magdalena Pawlowicz.

She added: “Individual interviews with mums in kindergartens indicate there is a need for cities to educate citizens on air pollution, and a car with a running engine (for example, an ice-cream truck or dad waiting in the car in front of the kindergarten) surprised many responders as something that was actively creating air-pollution.”

University collaboration

Geme.io is working with a university on a project to create a mathematical algorithm that will enable the translation of traffic congestion (such as planned street cleaning, trash pick-up, transport off and onloading services) to be displayed ahead of time on the app’s virtual map.

The project will include aspects such as how much citizens are willing to share data with city clouds for the benefits of other citizens and use the app to inform others about planned traffic congestion.